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Cricket

'Best Indian opener has arrived'- Cricket Fraternity bows down to Shubhman Gill as he notches maiden T20I hundred

Shubman Gill notched his maiden T20I hundred in the third T20I against New Zealand on Wednesday. Fans were in complete awe of him.

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Sam Abraham
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Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill: (Image Source: Twitter)

The third T20I of the three-match series between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad saw batting fireworks from the hosts in the first innings as India posted a mammoth 234/4 in the first innings. Cameos from Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya adorned the main jewel of the innings, which was Shubman Gill’s excellent unbeaten 126 off 63 balls.

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Gill, who opened the innings with Ishan Kishan, started off in a sedate fashion. After losing Kishan in the second over, he was content to let Tripathi take the aggressor’s role but made sure not to let his own strike rate drop.

While Tripathi did his best to put the Kiwi bowlers off their rhythm, Gill relied on classic cricketing shots to accumulate runs at a fair clip. The Punjab batter overcame a minor hiccup on the final ball of the powerplay when Blair Tickner put down a high, swirling catch that Gill had hit up into the air and was made to rue that missed opportunity.

With Suryakumar Yadav playing his usual brand of attacking cricket at the other end, Gill quietly reached his maiden T20I half-century off 35 balls in the 12th over. However, the loss of Yadav soon after was the signal for him to step it up a gear as he was joined in the middle by skipper Hardik Pandya.

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After a couple of overs went by without a boundary, he pulled Lockie Ferguson for a six in the 14th over, following it up with two maximums off debutant Benjamin Lister in the 16th.

Seeing the ball beautifully by this point, Gill continued his assault on the Kiwi bowlers, smashing them to all parts of the ground. The first 50 runs of his innings were scored in a measured fashion off 35 balls, but the second 50 came off just 19 as he brought up his first T20I ton with a stylish lofted cover drive in the 18th over.Β 

Two further dropped chances, albeit fairly tough, could not deter Gill from continuing on his merry way as he carried his bat through the innings, finishing not out on 126 from just 63 balls. It was a fantastic study in pacing a T20 innings that Gill provided as he reminded the cricketing world once again that he was one of the most in-form batters in the world at this time.

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Here's a look at how Twitter reacted to Gill's knock:

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